Off-duty Miami-Dade cop watched a man drop a 4-month-old girl at Walmart, police say
A man was arrested Monday after an off-duty police officer watched him drop a 4-month-old baby girl multiple times at a Walmart in Miami-Dade, authorities say.
Patrick Abbott is facing a charge of child abuse with no great bodily harm. The 31-year-old Miami man was released Tuesday afternoon from the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $5,000 bond, county jail records show.
The day before, an off-duty Miami-Dade officer was working a security detail shift at a Walmart in Gladeview sometime around 4 p.m. when several customers told her that Abbott had dropped the baby on the floor, according to this arrest report. As the officer approached Abbott, she says she saw him drop the baby, again.
The officer says Abbott then walked away from the baby, but returned after bystanders screamed and ran over to help the infant. The officer subsequently detained Abbott and retrieved the unresponsive baby, who was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Abbott, who has previously been convicted of armed robbery and possessing or delivering cocaine with intent to sell, was transported to a nearby police station where he told investigators that he only dropped the baby once by accident. Authorities arrested him shortly thereafter.
